We could soon see UFC legend Jon Jones back inside the Octagon.
That is according to the former two-weight champion's protege Gable Steveson ahead of his own fight at UFC 331 this weekend.
The heavyweight division has been blown wide open this week following the news that Tom Aspinall has been forced to relinquish his title due to injury.
Aspinall was elevated to undisputed champion following Jones' retirement in 2025, and made his first defence against France's Ciryl Gane in October.
However, in the first round of that fight the Englishman was rendered unable to continue due to an unintentional foul from the challenger.
The eye poke that night that left him temporarily blinded and he revealed this week that he has suffered multiple setbacks in his bid to get back in the cage.
In the meantime Gane defeated Alex Pereira for the interim belt at the landmark White House event, and it remains to be seen what the UFC's plan is for the division moving forward.
Jones secured a first-round finish of Gane when they fought in March of 2023 and Steveson hinted that a rematch with the Frenchman could tempt him out of retirement.
"I've got a good friend of mine who could take the shot [at Gane] and could come back and win." Steveson told TNT Sports.
"There's so many opportunities for guys like Jon and Ciryl Gane and so many others to go out and compete so I'm excited to see who will take that spot."
He continued: "Jon is a competitor as everyone knows but he does it on his own time and that's what Jon likes to do, he likes to go out there and make sure that he's prepared in his own way.
"He'll be here with me this weekend so we'll see if the fire keeps burning as it always does. He trains with me every day, he's my main practice partner, we do a lot of one-on-ones and a lot of time together.
"Can he still compete at the highest level? Most definitely."
Jones has served as a mentor to Steveson in his burgeoning combat sports career since the Olympic gold medallist made the switch to mixed martial arts last year.
Steveson claimed a first-round knockout win in his UFC debut back in July and will look to continue his perfect start when he faces Sean Sheraf on Saturday night.
